Is 100 Miles Still THE Distance In Ultrarunning?

In the past I feel that there has been a tendency for the ultrarunning community to only accept runners truly into ‘the club’ once they have completed their first 100 miler, and those who have not run the distance don’t feel fully welcomed until they have done so. Does this mean that 100 miles is still THE distance in ultrarunning? Stephanie Howe posted three podium finishes at ultras from 50k to 100k distances in 2013, including a course-record win, but even she said that she felt like she wasn’t a true ultrarunner until she ran her first 100 miler (Western States , 2014). Maybe this feeling was partly due to the fact that in 2013, despite three excellent ultra results, she didn’t even make top 10 in UltraRunning Magazine’s Ultra Runner of the Year voting, likely making her feel slightly unwelcomed by part of the community. Although gaining the respect of the ultrarunning...